A World Without Liars
by Alexisagirl
Summary: Prequel to Son of Loki. Pre-Avengers. 20 years ago, Loki had taken a little vacation to Midgard. During this trip, a fateful encounter had occurred between him and a female swindler. They loathe each other, hate each other. They trick and they lie. There was no way a mere mortal could outsmart the God of Lies himself, but yet their lives became entangled in an unimaginable way.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

* * *

"This is the Crystal of Pertho. It is a powerful relic, and it contains the secrets of the Nine Realms."

Loki listened as a slender and elegant female elf explained the origins of the Crystal to him in her lulling, dreamy voice. The God of Mischief may have appeared to be attentive and interested, but in truth, he was utterly bored.

The All Father had sent his second son on a diplomatic trip to Alfheimir, both as a visit to the Elven king as well as to lead discussions about further cooperation and peace between the two realms. When Loki had arrived, he was greeted with a warm welcome and the King of Alfheimir had asked his daughter to show the god around on a tour of their grand palace. Therefore, Loki was now together with his guide in the treasury room, gazing at the various magical relics and listening to his host as she introduced the more prized artefacts to him.

Loki barely managed to stifle a yawn when a glowing violet light caught his attention. The treasury room of Alfheimir was filled with relics, and it was not as organised as the Weapons' Vault in Asgard. Only the more powerful and important articles merited their own stands while the other treasures were simply stacked on the rows of pearly, ivory shelves. Loki's eyes flashed with interest as he observed a polished looking pendant with a round gem encrusted in the middle, emitting off a soothing violet glow.

_Now this is enticing…_

The god's fingers brushed lightly across the violet gem and a grin flitted across his face when a few tiny sparks flew from the relic, triggered by his touch. Despite being slighted in the favour of the other grander artefacts in this room, this pendant holds extremely powerful magic. Loki knew and recognised that fact. The God of Mischief's eyes flicked back to his gorgeous host, who now seemed engrossed in her own speech about a large, majestic sword embedded with rubies as large as eggs.

_With all these precious treasures around, perhaps they won't miss this one little necklace…_

A sly smirk crept across Loki's face as his hand stealthily closed around the pendant, casually slipping it up his sleeve. The violet gem radiated a calming aura of warmth in the trickster's hand and he grinned gleefully, pleased with his find. Loki was just pondering excitedly about all the possible ways he could explore and probe into the pendant's magic when a clear, tinkling voice interrupted his train of thoughts.

"Prince Loki? Are you with me?" The elven princess asked curiously, gazing at her guest with her large, stunning azure eyes. Loki gave a tiny amused grin at his host's seeming displeasure with his lack of attention to her.

_Regardless of race, women will always be women…_

"Of course I am, my fair Princess Vanya. How could my attention possibly stray elsewhere with someone as lovely as you in the room?" Loki smirked as a pretty blush of pink appeared on the snow white cheeks of the elf. "Let's continue with our tour, shall we? I am sure there are many other magnificent places in this grand palace for us to explore." The God of Mischief added, flashing a charming smile at Vanya.

Loki grinned as the princess nodded shyly and led the way out of the treasury room, oblivious to the fact that the violet pendant was now missing from its rightful place on the shelves.

_It seems as though my little trip to Alfheimir had been__ a lot more rewarding than I had expected._

* * *

_This is the prologue to my story… I apologise for its lack of length… the later chapters will be longer._

_So this is the prequel to my other story, Son of Loki. If you haven't read it yet, it's fine… A World Without Liars can be understood and read as its own individual story. There is no need to have any pre-existing knowledge of my other works. However, I do suggest reading Son of Loki, it's one shot sequel A Very Leify Christmas as well as a one shot titled Pick of the Nick written by DelilahUnknown (published under my account). They are all basically part of this series of stories and you would be able to better understand and predict the ending of this story if you do read the rest. For instance, if you had read Son of Loki, you would already know the importance of the pendant and the role it plays in the future._

_To the others who had read my stories in the past… this prologue is basically meant to explain how Loki got the pendant. Do you guys actually see a hint of Leif in him? You are supposed to, you know? Loki is supposed to be a bit more playful in this story. ;D_

_Do review… and thanks to all those who continue to read my works. :D_


	2. An Unforeseen Encounter

**An Unforeseen Encounter**

* * *

Loki strolled down the busy streets of New York casually, ignoring the curious stares thrown in his direction by the puzzled mortals passing him.

It has been a few months since his diplomatic trip to Alfheimir and although the visit can be said to be fairly beneficial for both realms, it had not been an extremely pleasant experience for Loki. Apparently the god had underestimated the powers of his own charm and had unwittingly managed to make the Princess Vanya fall madly in love with him. Before long, the silver tongued trickster found himself exercising all of his wit and persuasion skills to convince his father and the King of Alfheimir that an arranged marriage between him and the elven princess would NOT be a good idea and after a period of stress and anxiety for Loki, Odin had thankfully agreed.

However, even after all this absurdity, Loki's sanity was not spared for a single moment, thanks to Thor and his group of bumbling friends. After a few months of being annoyed and irritated by his brother's antics, the God of Mischief had finally decided to take a break and leave Asgard for a little vacation when a particular hunting trip with Thor and the Warriors Three went awry.

A few days ago, Thor had invited Loki to join him and his friends on a hunting excursion to some forest located to the east of their palace. In order to stop his brother's constant pestering and nagging, Loki had grudgingly obliged. The trip had started off like any other and once again, the competitive nature of Fandral and Thor had caused their supposed leisurely little outing to evolve into a challenge to see who could capture the most game.

Thor, Loki and the Warriors Three had each gone on their separate paths for a while before Loki happened to chance upon a herd of deer. The God of Mischief had grinned at the sight of his newly targeted prey at that time and had stealthily snuck up on them, carefully calculating and forming a plan in his mind to trap the entire flock of game. At that moment, Loki had gleefully thought that he would be able to beat Thor in this contest for once if he managed to capture all nine of the deer he had spotted. However, just when the god was about to draw an arrow out from his sheath, Volstagg and Thor appeared all of a sudden and aggravatingly hurtled straight into the pack of deer, yelling out loud and obnoxious battle cries. Loki watched with utter bemusement and exasperation as the two warriors waved their weapons about, scattering the herd of game. _His_ targeted game. In the end, Thor managed to strike down three of the deer and somehow unsurprisingly came out tops in this petty little contest again.

That evening, Thor and the Warriors Three had deemed it fit to hold a celebratory feast in honour of Thor's supposed triumph and even dragged Loki along, much to the trickster's annoyance. Loki had just been sitting there quietly, minding his own business and trying to ignore the loud ramblings of Fandral and Volstagg of how their golden prince had 'done it' again when an oblivious Thor came along and laid the final straw that broke the camel's back.

Mistaking his brother's displeasure at having his plans thwarted as disappointment at losing the stupid contest, Thor had tried to cheer his sulking brother up by clapping him on the back and jovially stating that Loki need not fret about not being as successful as he was. Being too thick-headed to spot Loki's resentful scowls, Thor had even claimed that with time and effort, the trickster might be able to reach the Thunder God's own level of competence.

In order to protect his own sanity as well as Thor's safety, Loki had decided to leave Asgard for a little vacation to Earth, as far away from Brother Dear as possible just in case he ever lost control and cursed Thor into oblivion, something that he was dangerously tempted to do at that time. With his gift of the gab, the god had managed to convince Odin to allow him to leave for a trip to Midgard under the pretences that he was interested in learning more about the mortals' culture and living circumstances. Therefore, Loki had obtained permission to leave, pushed off Thor's request to accompany him and was now blissfully realms apart from his irritating brother, exploring a place that the humans have named New York.

_At least here no one will recognise me as __**the brother**__ of Thor…_

Loki grinned to himself as he continued striding down the streets, gazing at the sights of the city. It has been a long time since he had been to Midgard. The last visit had occurred a few hundred years ago and Thor had been with him at that time, acting like a buffoon and showing off his powers by summoning lightning and thunder in front of the mortals. What actually disgusted Loki the most was when the Midgardians were actually awed and started worshipping his arrogant brother as a god. As if Thor's ego needed anymore boosting!

Nonetheless, as much as he disliked how mindless and foolish these human beings could be, the trickster was looking forward to causing a little bit of chaos and mischief on Earth. If they are impressed by a little thunder, then the mortals should consider it an honour that the God of Mischief himself had found time and effort to add a little spice to their dull and dreary lives. However, even though Loki enjoyed being in the spotlight, the god could not help but realise that the amount of attention he was receiving from the puzzled humans due to his Asgardian attire would not be beneficial to him.

_Perhaps I should try to blend in…_

Loki looked around for a moment, frowning at the atrocious clothes the mortals were wearing before catching sight of a dignified looking man wearing a classy suit.

_It's not the best, but I guess it would have to do._

Loki stepped into an isolated alley, out of the people's sight and closed his eyes in concentration. The polished Asgardian attire the god was wearing faded and morphed into an elegant suit similar to the one he had seen the human wore, except for a few sleek shades and tinges of green Loki had added to give it his own little touch. Gazing down and smiling with satisfaction at the clothes he had conjured up, Loki continued to tour the city, now looking like a rich man instead of a weirdo from a different era.

"Would you like your fortune told, Sir?"

Stopping at the sound of a low mysterious voice, Loki turned his head to see a raven haired Midgardian female gazing at him. Wearing a lacy bodice and a bright red diklo in her hair, the woman was sitting behind a small table holding a round crystal ball. Her heavily hooded dark brown eyes stared straight into Loki's emerald ones and the god found himself intrigued by this strange looking lady.

"Would you like to know your fortune, Sir?" The woman lisped with a strong foreign accent. "Won't cost you a penny if my predictions fail."

_Strange. I didn't know that there would be gypsy fortune tellers here in New York._

Being a powerful magician himself, Loki knew that the art of fortune telling was highly complex and mastered by few. In the past, he had heard tales about a tribe of gypsies, named the Zefiro, which resided in Latervia, a small European country. Despite being mortals, these gypsies had practised sorcery and were fairly adept in using magic to see into the future. Loki's brows rose sceptically as he observed the woman sitting before him. Somehow, the god doubted that any Zefiro gypsies would travel so far to come to America and set up a measly fortune telling stall at the side of the filthy streets. They would be too proud to stoop so low. Besides, the outfit the woman wore was too garish, too gaudy for Loki's tastes and the god was sure that no Zefiro gypsies in their right state of mind would dress like that.

_Now this is interesting._

Loki grinned as he thought for a moment and sat down on the stool opposite of the woman. The God of Mischief figured that there would be no harm in seeing what stories this female 'gypsy' would spin up about his life. After all, he _is _here on Earth to seek entertainment and he_ had_ plenty of time to kill.

"So what surprises does my future hold for me, gypsy woman?" Loki smirked as he gazed into the woman's eyes. For some reason, the god had a feeling that this would be an extremely amusing experience indeed.

"The crystal ball will show and tell all, my good sir." The woman answered in a misty voice. "I shall now look into the depths of the crystal and reveal the secrets of your past, present and future."

Loki watched with mirth as the gypsy closed her eyes, muttered some gibberish under her breath and positioned her hands next to the round transparent ball of crystal on the table.

_I guess you would have to give her some credit for dramatics._

All of a sudden, the gypsy's eyes snapped open and Loki resisted the urge to snicker as she peered into the crystal ball intensely and gave a low suspenseful gasp.

"Ah! I see…" The woman murmured mysteriously as the trickster chuckled quietly to himself.

_This will be good…_

"I see… a shadow!"

Upon hearing the woman's words, the grin on Loki's face froze for a moment before disappearing entirely.

_A shadow? What does she mean? How does she know?_

Thoughts of Thor flashed through Loki's head as he stared at the gypsy woman with shock and disbelief. For a chilling moment, the stunned god wondered if this lady before him did have the ability to foresee the future. Could it be that this woman had actually seen his overbearing brother in Loki's future? Did she actually foresee that Loki would always be a far second to the golden prince of Asgard, destined to live in the shade of Thor's greatness?

The trickster was utterly confused. He had been so sure that this gypsy was a fraud, a cheat but what she said had struck home. Loki's brows furrowed as he gazed at the crystal ball before him. Could this actually be a real magical relic? This was strange. The god could not sense any trace of magic being emitted from the item.

"A shadow is present," The gypsy continued in her mystifying tones and Loki perked up as he listened to her with curiosity. "The darkness… it will harm the things you hold dear. It is symbol of impending danger! Evil lurks in your future, my friend."

_Thor? And evil? Now that's a hilarious combination._

The tension in Loki's body vanished and was replaced with utter amusement as the impact of the gypsy's words sank in. The God of Mischief understood what was happening now. This was just typical Midgardian trickery. The woman had used general predictions that were meant to be relatable to any unknowing, foolish humans. First she would make a vague prediction about some trouble or worry that any living person would have. Then as the anxious target inquires more about his future and slips out more about his life, this woman would narrow down on that person's particular fear. The ridiculousness of it all made Loki burst out in laughter, and an offended look flitted over the fortune teller's face.

_And to think I had actually believed it for a second…_

"A shadow? Darkness?" Loki smirked and gazed at the affronted woman. "Really now? How naïve could your predictions get?"

"You may mock my abilities," The gypsy replied huffily, glaring at her disbelieving customer. "However, it is your own concern if you do not pay heed to my-"

"Your advice? Your guidance?" Loki interrupted the woman mid-sentence, much to her annoyance. "And pray tell, Gypsy, how do you propose to rid my future of this _darkness_ you foresee? Buy one of your lucky charms? Offer you money to perform some mystical ritual?" The god gave a scornful laugh at this point and the furious woman seemed about to punch him at any second.

"What you have said is the most common and typical of lies, human." Loki snarled threateningly all of a sudden, his eyes gleaming evilly. Without any warning, the god's hand shot out and grabbed the gypsy woman's, pulling her closer to him and causing her to give a tiny shriek of fear. "Your trickery may fool other simple minded mortals like yourself, but they will never be able to deceive me." The trickster growled with a chilling voice.

"You dare to speak of danger?" Loki whispered menacingly as the gypsy's eyes widened in horror and she tried to wrench her hand out of this madman's grasp. "You know nothing about Danger, woman. Not even if he is sitting here, right before your eyes."

Pleased with the terror he saw as he gazed into the woman's deep brown eyes, Loki gave one final satisfied smirk and released his grip on the petrified lady. The god then stood up from the stool casually and straightened out his suit as if nothing had just happened, much to the gypsy's revulsion.

"It has been a pleasure." The God of Mischief grinned wickedly at the stunned, disbelieving woman before turning and striding off into the busy streets.

After walking a safe distance away from his victim, Loki gave an amused snigger and gazed down at a tiny silver ring that he was now holding in his right hand. A little trophy that he had claimed for himself to mark this entertaining experience. One that the trickster had conveniently slipped away from the mortal's hand right under her nose. Loki grinned once more and carelessly dropped the ring into a pocket in his suit.

It seems as though his little vacation to Midgard would turn out to be fairly interesting yet.

XXX

Thea Black stormed into her home and dumped her fortune telling equipment onto the ground with anger.

Today had not been a good day for the female swindler. Thea had gone out into the city earlier this morning under the guise of a gypsy fortune teller in hopes of being able to rake in cash but business had been slow that day. Just as the woman had considered packing up and trying another gig, she had spotted a finely dressed gentleman walking by. Thea had offered her services to him, thinking that this man would be loaded and an easy kill, but things had not gone as she had expected.

_Fucking bastard._

Thea's eyes flashed with rage as she remembered how the man had terrified her witless when he grabbed her hand and whispered in that low, creepy voice of his. Under normal circumstances, the swindler would not have been so easily scared. However, there was a certain eerie air about this stranger that had caused chills to run down Thea's spine. The woman closed her eyes and shuddered in disgust as an image of the man's gleaming emerald eyes appeared in her head.

_You know nothing about Danger, woman. Not even if he is sitting here, right before your eyes. _

Thea Black gave a cynical snort of laughter. So that freak show is trying to claim that he is Danger? Well, he is dangerous, alright. A dangerous lunatic!

_Just my luck to encounter a crazy psycho like him!_

The woman rolled her eyes and walked towards a mirror. She pulled out a couple of tissues from a tissue box sitting on a shelf nearby and started to wipe away part of the thick and revolting makeup she had applied to her face that morning in order to play the part of a gypsy well.

_And that Mofo had called me human, mortal, or something along those lines. Who the hell does he think he is? A god?_

Thea wrenched the bright red scarf she had used as a diklo from her hair and flung it on the ground in frustration. Out of habit, she combed through her silky raven locks with her left hand, enjoying the calming feel of her hair between her fingers. However, a tiny nagging feeling appeared in Thea's heart as she did so. Something seems a little different from usual. Then, a sudden realisation hit. The woman hastily glanced at her left hand and realised to her horror that the silver ring she always wore on her index finger was missing.

_Oh my god! _

In her state of panic, Thea frantically looked around her home for her lost ring, hoping desperately that she might have dropped it in the house rather than the streets outside. After her attempts to find her ring proved to be fruitless, the woman started wondering if she should retrace her steps outside in the city and continue her search. But it would be no easy feat considering how big the city is. Thea gave a dismayed groan as she slumped back against the wall and closed her eyes in bemusement.

_Dang it! How could I have lost it?_

Then suddenly, a thought jolted through her mind and Thea's eyes snapped wide open.

_That man!_

Thea recalled how the crazy fellow had grabbed her hand during his mad speech.

_Of course! He had distracted me and stolen my ring!_

The woman gave a snarl of anger and clenched her fists tightly. She is so not going to let that jerk get away with this.

XXX

Loki stood in front of a grand looking hotel and gazed at the building sceptically.

It was almost nightfall now, and the god had been looking for a suitable place for accommodation. After browsing through the city and turning his nose up at several other 'less fitting' hotels, Loki had decided upon gracing this particular 5-star hotel with his presence. The trickster strode into the building confidently and walked up to the reception table, where a bored looking bespectacled lady sat.

"How may I help you Sir?" The woman drawled, peering at Loki through her rectangular spectacles. Her eyes shone at the sight of Loki's grand suit and the lady decided that this particular fancily dressed customer must be a rich one.

"I wish to lodge here for the night." Loki replied simply and the woman nodded.

"Your name, Sir?" The receptionist asked as she turned to the computer screen on her right.

"Loki Odinson."

The woman's head snapped up as she shot Loki a weird stare. After gazing at the god for a moment, the woman shook her head in puzzlement and proceeded to type the strange name into the computer. After all, who was she to question the credibility of a customer's name? Especially a potentially rich customer's name.

"That will be $300 for a night's stay, Sir." The woman looked at Loki expectantly. The trickster's brows rose for a moment as he suddenly remembered that he had yet to acquire any Midgardian currency.

_Right. Money._

"I believe you might have spelt my name wrongly?" Loki said matter-of-factly and the reception's attention turned back to her computer screen as she carefully scrutinised her spelling for any errors. The trickster grinned and conveniently plucked a few petals from some roses standing in a vase on the reception table. In the short period of seconds where the woman was distracted, Loki chanted a spell under his breath and the rose petals transformed into some bills that the god had seen the mortals handling earlier that day.

"Hmm… I don't see anything wrong with-" The receptionist frowned, turning back to her customer and her eyes lit up at the sight of a wad of $100 bills that Loki had placed on the table.

"Will this be enough?" The god smirked at the dazed expression of the woman.

"Oh, definitely!" The lady cooed as she started counting the bills and smiled at Loki. "In fact it is more than enough for a weeks' stay!"

"Well, make it a week then," Loki replied haughtily and the receptionist nodded fervently.

"Here is the key to your room, Mr Odinson, and I hope you enjoy your stay here."

Loki grinned evilly as he took the key the woman handed to him and strode off towards the elevator, leaving the mortal to happily count the stack of fake bills. The God of Mischief wasn't going to remain in this place for a week, of course. In fact, he had planned to leave first thing in the morning tomorrow. However, there was still a tiny bit of him that longed to stay for a while longer and see the expression on the woman's face when she finds a pile of rose petals sitting in the place where her precious money should be.

XXX

Loki gave a contented little sigh as he lay back on the large plushy bed.

The hotel room he had rented was not as grand and luxurious as his own resting chambers back in Asgard, but the god supposed that it was adequate, considering how it had been built by mortals. Furthermore, being here meant that there would be no irritating brother knocking on his door and barging into his room all the time, and that made up for any inconveniences or shortcomings that this place may have. The trickster grinned and rolled onto his side, thoroughly enjoying the tranquillity around here in the room without his oaf of a brother to annoy him.

_Peace at last…_

Then, Loki frowned as he felt something poking into his side. The god reached into his pocket and fished out the tiny silver ring he had stolen from the gypsy woman earlier that day.

_Right, I had forgotten about this. _

The God of Mischief smirked as he gazed at the ring. Did that pathetic mortal actually think that she could trick Loki, the God of Trickery and Lies himself? And with such a foolish and mediocre attempt too!

Loki turned the ring around between his fingers and observed it more carefully, unimpressed by what he saw. This was merely a simple ring made of silver, and there was nothing special about it. The god clicked his tongue distastefully as he realised that there was even a deep ugly gash in the side of the accessory.

_Shame… it might have been pleasant to look at if not for this revolting blemish._

Under normal circumstances, Loki would not have even cast a glance at this plain little ring. The god's tastes were far superior to that. However, Loki had always loved to collect trinkets and trophies of his little triumphs in life. Trophies such as a small lock of golden hair of Sif's from back when the trickster had snipped off the female warrior's flowing locks; Or a silver button that had fallen off Thor's clothes when Loki had pushed his brother into the palace pond. They were all hidden away in some corner of the god's room, serving as tokens of these wonderful memories. And this ring was no different.

Loki gazed at the ring once more and grinned. Although this little trinket may not be as important or memorable as his other little trophies, the god was sure that he would be able to find some use for it. Perhaps the little kitchen maid would be elated to receive this as a tiny gift from her prince. Or maybe Thor would be interested in this souvenir Loki had brought back for him from Earth. The Thunder God had always been fond of Midgard, after all.

The God of Mischief smirked as he started conniving a plan of how to prank his dumb brother with this ring. Imagine what would happen if Thor braided this into his tangly golden hair and claimed it to be a latest Midgardian fashion accessory that Loki had brought back for him. A wicked grin crept across Loki's face at the thought.

_Now that would be really interesting indeed._

_To be continued…_

* * *

_Chee… I am really sorry for updating so slow… got a bad case of writer's block. :/ _

_So anyway, how was this chapter? I apologise for the amount of Thor bashing in this one, but it is supposed to be from Loki's point of view… and before Thor's banishment, the Thunder God had been really arrogant. So I think it is rather justified._

_And in case anyone is wondering, Mofo means motherfucker. O.o It is an American slang word back in the 1990s. Since this is supposed to take place during that time, I will be including a lot of slang words back from that era in Thea's vocabulary. Don't worry about not understanding it… Loki won't understand either. And Thea will have to explain. ;D_

_Thanks to all those who have reviewed! :D It was a really pleasant surprise! I didn't really expect much for the prologue, you know? Considering how short it was…_

_And to Fray: The necklace is supposed to amplify a person's magical powers and protect its wearer from harm. It helped to unleash the powers of Loki's son, Leif in my other story Son of Loki. _

_I will try to update the next chapter ASAP! :D_


	3. The Start of a Beginning

**The Start of a Beginning**

* * *

Loki gazed around at the tall buildings wearily. It was nearly evening, and the God of Mischief had been circling around in the city for hours.

Earlier that morning, the god had left the fancy hotel he had stayed in for the previous night, ignoring the receptionist's fluttering eyelashes and honeyed questions. After making a mental note never to step into that building again, Loki had continued his tour of the city, hoping to find some excitement. However, the trickster soon realised to his disappointment that the lifestyles of mortals can be extremely mundane indeed. The god had tried to seek some entertainment by tripping a few unsuspecting passerbys and causing a poor woman's grocery bags to split open, spilling its contents on the ground, but these tricks grow old after a while and Loki knew that he could not cause chaos that would bring harm to the humans' lives. He was sure Odin wouldn't approve of it.

Therefore, the trickster had to settle for entertainment by touring New York City instead. However, being a stranger to this large city, Loki had no idea of where he should explore first. After wandering about aimlessly and getting bored out of his wits, the god started thinking bemusedly that his vacation on Earth may be a lot more enjoyable if there was someone to lead him around.

_Perhaps I should coerce a mortal to be my guide…_

Loki gave a tiny grin and strode along the streets, casually looking about for a suitable candidate.

_The man in the business suit? No, too grouchy looking._

_That little old lady watering her plants? No, strike that off. She would be likely to get a heart attack._

_One of those teenagers dressed in their revolting, flashy outfits? Impossible. I refuse to walk around with a bunch of peacocks._

The god frowned, carefully pondering his options. Choices. _Choices._ Loki was nowhere close to picking out a bearable human for his tour guide. Furthermore, it was getting dark soon, and the trickster would have to speed up his search for another suitable place for accommodation.

_I guess I should find a place for lodging first._

Loki gave a tired little sigh and started off, walking in no particular direction. He was just wondering where the grandest hotels in this mortal city were located when a sudden nagging doubt appeared in his mind. Somehow, something tells Loki that he was being watched. And followed. The god strode forward briskly and made a sharp turn around the corner of a building, grinning as his ears picked up the sound of quickening footsteps. The trickster's hearing was extremely well-trained and sensitive indeed.

_Looks like I got myself a shadow._

Loki smirked and turned into a dark, desolated alleyway. Clicking his fingers, the god cast a spell that made himself vanish and appear invisible to the eyes of others. In a matter of seconds, someone hurried into the alley before stopping abruptly when the person realised that Loki was nowhere to be seen. Grinning to himself and quietly walking up behind his stalker, Loki wordlessly removed his vanishing spell, allowing himself to be seen once more.

"Looking for me, dear?" Loki sneered with amusement, gazing into a pair of terrified brown eyes as the person spun around to face him.

XXX

Thea rushed down the streets, avoiding the crowds of people as she firmly tailed her target.

_I am not going to let him slip away this time!_

Earlier that morning, Thea Black had left her home after much consideration and started her search for that crazy lunatic who had stolen her ring. It was a Saturday, and the streets were more crowded than usual. Under normal circumstances, the female swindler would have taken this opportunity to pick as many pockets as possible. However, today was different. Thea had a mission. An extremely personal mission.

After an entire fruitless afternoon of searching high and low all over the city for that green-eyed man, Thea had started to get weary and wonder if that thieving bastard had left town. Just as she was about to give up and resign to the fact that her precious ring was lost forever, the woman suddenly spotted the jerk standing in the middle of the streets and gazing around the city cluelessly like a lost child.

_Finally!_

Thea watched for a moment as the man suddenly grinned slyly to himself (_crazy fellow!) _and started looking around at the people surrounding him. She then observed the lunatic as he heaved a tiny sigh after a while, following him grimly from a safe distance when he started striding off once more. As there were many people on the streets, Thea had decided to confront the bastard when they were alone, so as not to draw any unwanted attention to herself. After all, the scene was bound to turn ugly.

However, after tailing him for a few streets or so, the strange man seemed to realise that he was being followed. His footsteps sped up and Thea found herself practically dashing after him, anxious not to lose sight of her target. After leading Thea on an agitating race down the streets of New York, the man made a sudden sharp turn into an isolated little alley. The female swindler had followed suit, determined not to let the bastard escape when she found herself stopping abruptly, stunned, in the middle of an empty lane.

_But… I could have sworn he ran in here…_

Thea was just standing there alone, staring in disbelief at the obvious dead-end further down the alley and cursing under her breath when a sudden jeering voice sounded behind her.

"Looking for me, dear?"

The woman spun around and gasped in shock as she gazed into a pair of gleaming emerald eyes.

"Wha- How did you-?" Before Thea could finish her sentence, she was slammed backwards and pinned against the dirty alley wall by her supposed target, overwhelmed by his strength and unable to break free from his grip.

"My, if it isn't the gypsy from yesterday. How nice to see you again." The man smirked evilly, gazing at his captive in amusement. Thea gritted her teeth with indignation and struggled to escape from her captor's grasp, but to no avail. After realising that the man was too strong for her, the woman glared defiantly into his eyes, unwilling to appear like a weakling under these circumstances.

"What the hell do you want?" Thea snarled angrily and the man's brows rose sceptically in reply.

"Really now, considering how you were the one who had followed me here, I believe I should be the one asking you that question." The man grinned condescendingly, giving Thea an enormous urge to punch the living daylights out of him, which she would have done if her arms were not pinned to her side.

"Well?" The man continued after seeing that Thea wasn't about to answer him. "Don't tell me you came because you missed me?" Thea shot the sniggering bastard a murderous glare.

_So he's not just a dangerous lunatic… he's an egoistic dangerous lunatic!_

"Listen, jerk! I am not in the mood to play any stupid assed games right now! You'd better return me the ring you stole yesterday or I swear I will fucking kill you!" Thea hissed furiously and the man gave her a bemused look.

"Now now, watch your language." The green eyed man smirked at the aggravated expression on his captive's face. "Where are your manners? Isn't it common etiquette to say please when you ask for something?"

"Don't give me that shit!" Thea growled heatedly as she struggled more vigorously against the man's grip, causing him to press against her harder. His face leaned in closer towards hers, making the woman extremely uncomfortable as she stared into the emerald green eyes inches away from her own. For some strange reason, a sudden chill ran down her spine and Thea's heart thumped violently against her chest as she felt the man's warm breaths on her face.

_God! Damn this bastard!_

"So you are not going to ask nicely?" The man whispered as a wicked smile crept across his face. Thea made a solemn promise to herself that she would bite off the lunatic's nose if he had the guts to lean in any closer. "What makes that scarred little accessory so precious to you anyway? So much that you would chase me across half the city for it?" The man continued with a tinge of curiosity in his voice.

"That is none of your freaking business!" Thea replied scornfully as she glared at the smirking man. "Right, let's stop all this crap. We both know what each other are, don't we? What we had done yesterday was simply to earn a living… Why don't we just make peace? You return me my ring; I promise I will not cross your path again; And nobody gets hurt."

Thea watched as the smirk on the man's face faltered, only to be replaced by a look of confusion.

"Earn a living?" The man repeated incredulously, staring at Thea in disbelief before giving a nasty laugh. "Do I seem like a common street swindler to you, woman?" The man sneered and glared at his captive, who shot an equally disgusted look back.

"I don't care what the hell you are!" Thea snapped in irritation. "I just want my ring back! And if you aren't going to return it to me that easily, then fine! Name your price! What do you want?" The man stared at her quietly for a moment, seeming to be pondering deeply about something before his face broke out in a grin.

"Do you really want your little trinket back that badly?" The man asked as Thea glared wordlessly at him. "Tell you what, I will return it to you, on one condition." Thea's ears perked up at this sentence.

_Condition?_

"I will only give you back your ring, if you give me the fun I desire." The man smirked and Thea's eyes grew wide with shock as the impact of his words sank in.

"You asshole!"

Without further ado, Thea's knee shot up out of instinct and hit its target squarely; namely, the bastard's man parts. The man gave a surprised cry of pain, doubling over and releasing his grip on Thea who had similarly bent over, clutching her knee as a jolt of pain shot through it as well.

_Jesus! Is this guy made of steel or something?_

Thea winced as she nursed her aching knee and glanced up at the man, who had managed to compose himself by now.

"WHAT in the name of Odin was that for, woman?" The man snarled furiously as he leant back against the alley wall for support and glared at Thea, seeming about to tear her into pieces. Ignoring the strange language the weirdo had used, Thea straightened up and shot a dirty look back at him.

"For insulting me," Thea replied tartly as the man stared at her in disbelief. "What did you think I am? Some kind of slut who would sleep with a man for a ring?" The stranger gaped at her for a moment, stunned by her words before finally giving a derisive snort.

"I believe you have severely misunderstood my words, woman." The man sneered coldly as he shot Thea a glare. "I assure you that I have no burning desire to bed you. My tastes are far more superior to that." He smirked as the woman gave an affronted scowl. "What I meant was for you to show me around the city. I am fairly new to this place and I find myself in need for a guide."

"A guide?" Thea repeated sceptically as the man flashed her another amused grin. "So you are saying that all I have to do is to show you around New York and you will return me my ring?"

"After I am satisfied," The man nodded. "And bear in mind that it would be no easy task to please me, woman. I crave excitement and unless you can give it to me, I will not be returning that precious little ring of yours so easily." Thea glared at the bastard furiously, extremely tempted to rip that annoying smirk off his face. However, she knew that she would have no other choice than to accept the jerk's offer. He was too strong for her to snatch the ring back by force and something about him told the swindler that this strange man would be able to outsmart her anytime.

"Fine! Consider it a deal." Thea grumbled unhappily as the man gave a happy little chuckle. "So where are you staying? I will need to know that to find you tomorrow."

"Oh, you need not worry about not being able to find me tomorrow," The stranger grinned and Thea stared at him in bewilderment. "I plan to lodge at your house during the period of our deal."

"What!" Thea gave a yelp of shock as she stared at the man in disbelief. "Are you crazy? You are dressed in such a filthy rich manner and you want to stay at my place?"

"Yes," The man replied simply and Thea gaped at him incredulously, unsure of what to say. "I had thought that this arrangement would be beneficial to the both of us, considering how I do not want to lose my guide and you would not want to lose your ring." The stranger continued matter-of-factly and Thea found herself grudgingly agreeing to what he had said once more.

_Well, at least he won't be able to disappear so easily if he is staying in my house…_

"Okay! So you can come and live at my place." Thea glared at the man, who was now grinning gleefully. "Come on! Let's go!" The female swindler then turned and was about to lead the way out of the alley when she remembered something and stopped abruptly.

"Right, I forgot! Since we will be hanging out for the next few days, I believe that I should at least get to know your name." Thea looked questioningly at the man as his brows rose at her inquiry.

"I am Loki." The stranger replied simply after a moment of silence and it was now Thea's turn to raise her brows cynically.

"Loki? As in Loki, the God of Mischief?" The woman asked incredulously and a proud smirk flitted over Loki's face. "Man! Your parents must be some serious Norse mythology addicts. Must be nuts to name your child after a Norse god of mischief." The man gave an offended snarl at her words and Thea could not help but smirk back. "Not that I am surprised, I can see that insanity runs in your blood."

"Don't you dare mock my name and family, woman!" Loki hissed ferociously as he stepped menacingly closer to Thea, who had miraculously neither flinched nor retreated back.

"Whatever!" Thea waved her hand dismissively, much to Loki's bemusement. "By the way, my name is Thea. Thea Black. You can stop calling me woman now." Thea said simply as she turned, ready to leave this dark and filthy alley again.

"Thea?" Loki repeated sceptically before giving a nasty snicker. "Sounds like a common, petty name. I believe 'woman' suits you better."

Thea spun around furiously once more, shooting a dagger sharp glare at her enemy.

"Listen up you god damned bast-" The enraged woman started off angrily but was soon cut off by Loki.

"Now now! Temper temper." Loki smirked in a most irritating manner, looking at Thea as though he was speaking to a small child. "We should get going to your place of residence, shouldn't we? It's getting dark."

Sure enough, it was late in the evening and the alleyway they were in seemed to get darker by the minute. Thea gave Loki one last heated glare before turning huffily and leading the way out of this dirty, wretched place.

The God of Mischief grinned wickedly to himself as he followed the furious woman out. Looks like things had turned out better than he had expected… although he could have sworn that his human hostess had muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'deranged Mofo' under her breath. Whatever that means.

_To be continued…_

* * *

_If any of you have read my story Son of Loki, you would have remembered that Leif had a tendency to blurt out things and curse nasty vulgarities when he loses his temper. Guess who he inherited this trait from! ;D_

_And if you are wondering why Thea is so anxious about the ring… don't worry, I will cover that in later chapters. :)_


	4. The Prince and the Hostess

**The Prince and the Hostess**

* * *

"What do you mean you have no luggage?" Thea gaped at her guest with utter disbelief.

Both Thea and Loki were now in the female swindler's home. The moment they stepped into the house, the woman had suddenly remembered that they should have gone to pick up Loki's luggage from the previous hotel he had stayed in and had pointed it out exasperatedly to the god. However, Loki had simply replied that there was no need for that, considering how the trickster did not bring anything along with him. This unexpected answer had stunned Thea immensely.

"Exactly what I meant when I said that I had no luggage: _I have no luggage._" Loki said matter-of-factly, with an amused smirk plastered over his face.

"No clothes? No money? No personal belongings? None at all?" Thea asked incredulously as Loki shook his head wordlessly. The female swindler stared at her guest quietly for a moment before giving a scowl. "So you're just another homeless vagrant huh? So much for the rich man façade… Where did you steal that suit from?"

Loki glared indignantly at his hostess, annoyed by her words and wondering if he should cast a spell on her to stop her from rattling for a moment. The irritating mortal deserved it after all, and it might teach her to treat him with respect. However, the Loki's little inner mischief told him that pretending to be a normal human might actually be more fun during this little vacation. Drawing unwanted attention to himself by using magic would cause the others to avoid him and treat him like a freak, and he wasn't really eager about being an outcast here on Earth. He already had enough experience of being the odd one out in Asgard, thank you very much.

The god grinned slyly to himself once more. Besides, there are many other ways to aggravate Thea other than using magic.

"Where I got my suit from matters not, woman." Loki smirked as he gazed at Thea's irritated expression. "Just bear in mind that I have no other personal possessions, or currency, and I believe that as my hostess, you should have the grace and generosity to ensure that my stay here is pleasant."

"Whatever!" Thea gave a derisive snort and turned to walk away as Loki grinned with amusement. Then, all of a sudden, the impact of the trickster's words sank in and the woman froze in her tracks before spinning around and staring at Loki in horror.

"Wait, let me get this straight!" Thea sputtered in disbelief to her gleeful guest. "So you are saying that in addition to lodging, I have to provide you with food, clothing and other necessities as well?"

"Why, of course." Loki replied simply, thoroughly enjoying Thea's agitation.

"I'm doing no such thing, you cheap bastard!" Thea growled furiously as the god shook his head in mock disapproval.

"Now now, I believe the choice is not yours to make, my dear." Loki smirked annoyingly as Thea threw him a murderous glare. "Unless you have no eagerness to retrieve that precious little ring of yours, you had better ensure that my stay in your residence is an enjoyable one."

"Why you disgusting stinking jerk! How dare you-" Thea snarled heatedly as she stepped closer to her grinning guest. However, before she had the chance to finish whatever threat or insult she was going to make, the door of her house swung open and a boy no older than sixteen bounded in.

"I'm home Sis!" The boy hollered gleefully before catching sight of his sister and the stranger in the living room and halting with a look of confusion on his face.

Loki's brows rose as he observed the boy. Black scruffy hair and doe-shaped brown eyes. Definitely his mortal hostess' brother; no doubt about it. One would have to be blind to miss the resemblance. However, there was a certain air about this mortal boy that reminded Loki unpleasantly of Thor when the Thunder God was younger. And it had nothing to do with their outer appearances. The boy was dark where Thor was blonde. However, the boyish look on both their faces and gullible shine in their eyes bore an uncanny similarity, and Loki did not like it.

"Who's that?" The boy asked Thea in wonderment as he pointed to Loki. Then, the kid's face broke out in a knowing grin. "Oooh! Is he your new lover, Sis?"

"NO!" Both Loki and Thea cried out in disgust simultaneously before turning to face each other, ironically affronted by what the other had said. The boy seemed shocked by this sudden outcry and took a step backwards, fearing that a fight might break out without warning.

"The VERY idea!" Thea spat out scornfully as she glared into Loki's emerald green eyes.

"I am no more pleased by the kid's statement than you are, woman!" Loki retorted tartly.

After a few minutes of stony silence, the young boy finally decided to try and stop his sister and the stranger from melting each other with their heated glares.

"Erm… Sorry, it was my bad…" The boy gave a tiny awkward smile and the tension in Thea's body loosened as she turned to face her brother.

"Don't worry about it, Derek," Thea mumbled unhappily, shooting a sideward dirty look at Loki. "This is Loki. He will be staying with us for some time." Derek waved and flashed a stupid grin at Loki, which the god had meanly refused to return.

"He is Derek, my younger brother." Thea informed Loki simply, still furious at her guest.

"I can see that." Loki replied haughtily and Thea glared at him, unsure of whether he meant that as an insult or a compliment. However, knowing the jerk, she was sure that it was the former.

"Your name is Loki?" Derek asked in awe, his eyes flashing with excitement. "Whoa man! That's a cool name!" Loki's brows lifted sceptically at his words.

"Thank you, I guess." The god said to the grinning boy. "Although the same regrettably cannot be said for yours." Loki smirked nastily at the sight of Derek's muddled expression. Thea, who had understood Loki's insult better than her brother, gave an irritated hiss and jabbed the god hard in his ribs with her elbow. The trickster gave a snarl of rage at the pain and wasted no time in moving away from the woman.

"Enough of this crap!" Thea growled at a bemused Loki, much to her brother's surprise. "Come on wise guy! I'll show you your room."

Loki followed the fuming woman as she led the way out of the living room and flashed another smirk at Derek, which the boy innocently returned with a grin. Thea brought her guest to a small room in the house and showed the god in. She then started to set up a camp bed for Loki while the man simply stood there, staring around at the state of the place in utter disbelief and wrinkling his nose with displeasure.

"There! All done! You can stay here for the time being." Thea said finally after the bed was ready and Loki glared at her incredulously.

"Excuse me?" Loki said sceptically. "You want me to lodge in this wretched, forsaken place?" Thea glanced back at the trickster with annoyance.

"Yeah, duh! What do you expect?" The woman replied huffily, returning the glare Loki gave her. "A room in a 5 star hotel? There are only three rooms in this house! One for me. One for Derek. And now this one for you! Beggars can't be choosers, you know?"

"Wha- Did you just call me a beggar, woman?" Loki sputtered in rage and Thea smirked at him.

"Yep, I did!" The female swindler replied simply as the trickster seemed about to strangle her. "What else do you think you are? A prince of some faraway fairy tale land-" Thea stopped abruptly midsentence as she spotted a cockroach scurrying along the floor of the room, which was just as well since Loki's hands were twitching dangerously at the moment.

"Oh dang it! Stupid god damned roaches!" Thea yelled angrily and started to stamp on the floor forcefully, finally managing to flatten the bug, much to Loki's revulsion.

"There! I just got rid of a pest for you! There's no need to thank me!" Thea said smugly to Loki, who was now gaping at her as though she had gone mad. "I expect you to do it yourself next time, though."

"Do what?" Loki asked scornfully. "Jump about the floor on an insect like a moron and scream vulgarities at the top of my voice?" Thea gave an affronted snarl at the god's words.

"Listen asshole! If you are going to be staying in my house, then I expect you to help maintain the cleanliness of the place!" Thea said angrily and Loki flashed a nasty smirk at her.

"Oh? So your definition of maintaining cleanliness is to spill an insect's guts all over your floor?" The god replied sarcastically as the woman glared at him.

"Whatever! I don't have the time and patience to stay here and listen to your rubbish!" Thea snapped and strode out of the room before Loki could hurl another scathing remark at her. The god gave a furious huff and sat down on the hard camp bed, gazing around the dusty room with abhorrence.

_Looks like these Midgardians have a lot to learn about hospitality._

Loki was just wondering if his choice of Thea as his guide had been a bad one after all when his eyes spotted something revolting in the corner of the room.

_What in the name of the All Father? Is that… is that a spider's web?_

"WOMAN!" Loki roared in anger and Thea rushed into the room, wide-eyed and thinking that some catastrophic event had happened to make her guest holler in that manner.

"What is that?" Loki demanded testily as he pointed at the offensive object and Thea's attention turned from the furious god to the cobweb in the corner. There was a moment of stunned silence as Thea observed the web for a while before turning back and staring at Loki incredulously.

"That's a spider web, genius!" Thea snarled in disgust. "What the hell is wrong with you? You called me back here because of a spider?"

"The cleanliness of this place is unacceptable!" Loki raged as he glared at his hostess. "I demand that you tidy it up immediately!" Thea looked at her guest as if he was insane and gave a scornful laugh.

"I don't have the freaking time for shit like this!" Thea scoffed, much to Loki's indignation. "Unless you don't mind grovelling insect guts up from the floor, you'd better stop interrupting me with these stupid assed matters while I prepare dinner! Clean it up yourself!" With that, the female swindler stormed out of the room, once again leaving Loki to seethe with rage on his own.

_The nerve of that woman!_

The god cursed the insufferable mortal under his breath for a while before gazing around the room once more. He then swung the door shut with a wave of his hand.

_I guess it would not hurt to use magic this time._

A tiny smirk flitted across Loki's face as he muttered a spell quietly and closed his eyes in concentration. When the trickster's eyes opened, the room was now spick and span and as neat as a pin. Even the spider web plus spider was nowhere to be seen.

_Now that's better. A lot better._

Loki grinned as he considered conjuring up a few spiders in Thea's room. After all, the human seemed to think that spiders are not much of a big deal, didn't she? Well then, maybe she won't have any objections with 3 inch spiders crawling over her face while she sleeps.

XXX

Thea dragged an extremely disgruntled Loki down the streets of New York.

Earlier that morning, the female swindler had knocked loudly and burst into the god's room, throwing him a toothbrush and demanding that he got up immediately, much to his bemusement. A sullen Loki had joined Thea and a jovial Derek at their small worn out dining table for breakfast, frowning at the bowl of cereal his hostess set before him. After supposing that he should be thankful for this meagre breakfast considering the nature of his hostess, Loki ate the bowl of cornflakes and milk quietly, wishing spitefully that he had gone through with his plans and summoned giant spiders in Thea's room. The trickster had decided against it since the woman had given him a rather nice dinner the evening before, but now Loki is seriously reconsidering this decision.

After their short breakfast, Thea had promptly rushed Loki out of the house while Derek waved them goodbye cheerily, promising his sister that he would be back home that day with a few more wallets. Once they were out of the house, out of her little brother's sight and hearing, Thea turned to Loki and started to state her stand on their unfinished argument from the evening before.

"Listen up! I may have agreed to showing you around the city, but I am NOT going to pay for your clothes and food!" Thea said firmly to Loki, who listened with a bored expression. The god was still wearing the same suit he had since yesterday as he had no excuse to morph it into a different one. The woman was now claiming how conspicuous his attire was and how they need to get him a new set of clothes. Since the god was a lot taller and lankier than Derek, it was sure that he would not be able to fit into the boy's shirts or jeans.

"In other words, you got to earn your keep!" Thea exclaimed, jabbing her finger into the front of Loki's chest. The god's brows lifted sceptically as he stared at the determined female.

"So you want me to dress like a gypsy and sit at some woebegone corner of New York, spewing nonsense about fortunes to foolish passerbys, like you had done in the past?" Loki asked cynically and Thea gave a scornful snort.

"Of course not! Do you think you could pass off as a gypsy? Sometimes you don't even seem human!" The woman retorted scathingly, much to Loki's displeasure. "Besides, the fortune telling gig doesn't earn a lot, anyway." Loki gave a nasty little snicker at this.

"I believe it must be due to the absurd way you tell your fortunes." The trickster smirked as Thea glared at him, offended by his words.

"Oh you're so funny, aren't you?" Thea snapped irritably and Loki flashed an amused grin. "Now listen, wise guy. Here's the plan!" Thea tiptoed and leaned in closer to Loki's side, whispering something into his ear. The god frowned for a moment as he listened to Thea's words.

"This does not sound as fun as I had expected." Loki pointed out flatly after Thea finished describing her scheme to him. The female swindler gave a derisive laugh at his words.

"Fun? Who cares about fun?" Thea retorted scornfully. "What matters most is the cheddar we'll be getting!"

"Cheddar?" Loki stared at her incredulously.

_What in the world is this mad woman talking about?_

Thea rolled her eyes in disgust.

"Money! Cash! Get it, dumbass?" The woman said tartly before turning and striding off into the streets, ignoring the dagger sharp glares Loki shot in her direction.

_Annoying, insufferable mortal!_

The God of Mischief cursed under his breath for a moment before following his hostess down the streets. Well, if the woman isn't going to make his visit fun, then the trickster guessed he would have to instil a little mischief into it himself.

_To be continued…_

* * *

_I believe that some of you might have noticed that the chapters for this story are shorter than my usual chapters for Son of Loki. That's because there is less content for this story. I am hoping to make it short and sweet so that I can continue with the sequel. Don't worry though; I will not rush on the details. :D_

_I wanted to portray Loki as less knowing about the mortal world in this story. You know how Thor always seems to be confused about Midgardian contraptions while Loki seems to know a lot? :P Well, the God of Mischief has to learn all this from somewhere, right? Yet, but he will be a lot sharper than Thor is, of course!_

_Thanks for all the reviews you have given! :) Do continue reading! _


	5. Tricky Queens

**Tricky Queens**

* * *

Loki stood across the streets, a distance away from Thea and stared at the female swindler with utter boredom as she set up a tiny wooden table. Both god and mortal were now in a part of one of the messier neighbourhoods in the city and Thea had expressively told Loki that they will have to act as complete strangers for this scheme. Therefore Loki was simply made to lurk about on the streets opposite of his 'partner', waiting for the opportune time to approach her and carry out _their_ plan. Or rather, HER plan.

_Some plan that would be…_

The god heaved a tiny annoyed sigh as he watched his human hostess finish setting up the table and lay down three cards on it. The sheer ridiculousness and stupidity of the scheme Thea had proposed had irked him greatly. However, somehow the god was a teeny bit curious if these mortals would actually be foolish enough to fall for the con. In fact, this little bit of curiosity had been the only reason why Loki had grudgingly agreed to cooperate in the first place. Then, Thea started to holler out to the passerbys on the streets and before long, a huge crowd of people had gathered around the woman, some eager to participate in a little gamble while the others were only flocking around to see what the commotion was about.

_That's my cue._

Loki gave another weary huff and strode towards the crowd, forcibly squeezing through the crowd and inching towards the front, ignoring the annoyed grunts and impatient growls of the people he pushed aside.

"Gather around! Gather around! Try your luck! See if you can find the queen!" Loki heard Thea shouting gleefully as he drew closer and closer to the front. Once the trickster broke out of the crowd and stood at the front, just before the table, he shot Thea a knowing glance and the woman gave a small smile. It was now time to put the plan into action.

"Right, now that so many of you have gathered, let's get the show started, shall we?" Thea grinned as she flashed the three poker cards to the audience. "Now as all of you can see, here are three cards! Two of them are jacks while one of them is a queen. The game is simple. For each round, I, as the dealer will mix these three cards and you guys will place a bet on which one of these three cards is the queen. The ones who guessed correctly wins!" The woman finished joyfully and Loki's brows lifted out of amusement and scepticism.

_Will the humans really be dumb enough to buy that? Surely they must have some doubts, no matter how mindless they can be? Even Thor wouldn't fall for this._

True enough,the trickster was not the only one who appeared cynical. A flurry of whispers rushed around the crowd as people contemplated and wondered if this might be a scam of some sort. Loki remained silent for a moment, not exactly enthusiastic about making the next move until Thea shot him a warning glare and the god sighed reluctantly.

"How would we know if the cards are not marked, woman?" Loki commented in an overly mock disbelieving tone. It was near impossible to gauge the amount of sarcasm dripping in his voice. Luckily for both of them, only Thea sensed the contempt lined in his words and the female swindler shot him a dirty look, as though she was daring the smirking god to mess this up. However, in eyes of others, this act went unquestioned as it only seemed to be a logical reaction from an affronted dealer to her cynical customer.

"Well, if you have doubts about this, why don't _you_ check the cards?" Thea replied irritably and practically shoved the three cards into Loki's hands. The trickster once again made a big show of inspecting the cards for any obvious marks before returning them to the now extremely irked Thea with a big grin on his face.

"It seems that these cards are just fine." Loki confirmed finally and despite her annoyance at the flippancy of her partner-in-crime, Thea flashed a smirk.

"Of course they are!" The female swindler replied smugly and started shuffling the cards around. Before she did so, the woman briefly made eye contact with Loki for a swift second, urging him to make the next move. The trickster stared at Thea with bemusement for a few seconds and grimaced, hesitantly leaning towards a stout, burly man next to him.

"I marked the cards," Loki whispered conspiratorially to the man and watched with amusement as the idiot's eyes widened with surprise. The foolish mortal turned to face Loki and gazed at the god in amazement.

"You did?" The man asked in hushed tones and the trickster could have laughed out loud at how gullible the human was.

_Pathetic._

"Yes, see that card there?" Loki replied quietly and gave a tiny nod towards the middle card of the three. "I made a tiny dent at the side. That card is the queen." The god observed with mirth as the man's eyes narrowed when he tried to scrutinise the card Loki had referred to for any obvious marks.

"I don't see anything." The man said finally and Loki gave a tiny knowing smile.

"Of course you don't. If you did, the woman would have spotted it from the start, wouldn't she? Just follow my lead." Loki replied condescendingly, as though this fact was the most obvious thing in the world and smirked at the man's stunned expression.

_What would these humans NOT believe in?_

"Right! Now you may place your bets, people!" Thea announced cheerily and Loki wordlessly reached out and placed a fifty dollar bill, one that Thea had given him earlier, before the middle card.

"This one!" The god said confidently, loud enough for the people around him to hear and turned to the man beside him, giving the human an encouraging smile. Much to Loki's amusement, the idiot turned and whispered something to a group of men behind him, most probably his friends, before turning to face the god and slapping down a ten dollar bill on the table in front of the middle card as well.

"I bet on this card too!" The man gave a toothy grin which Loki found rather disturbing. The god had always been stringent when it comes to matters regarding personal hygiene and he secretly thought that it would probably do some good for the man to brush his teeth more than once a day, if he ever brushed at all.

A series of murmurs soon occurred in the crowd as some people placed bets on different cards while other chose to simply observe the proceedings, reluctant to partake in a game where the odds were low. After confirming that all who wished to participate and placed their bets had done so, Thea held her hand up as a motion for silence.

"Now, let's see which one of these three is the queen!" The woman said dramatically as she started to flip over the cards. Loki rolled his eyes sarcastically as people around him watched the proceedings with bated breaths.

_Really, how ignorant can these mortals be? _

"AH HA! We got it!" The man beside Loki exclaimed with delight as he saw that the middle card was indeed the queen of spades and slapped the god jovially on the back. Loki flinched in disgust involuntarily and resisted the burning urge to turn and snarl at the man for daring to touch him. The nerve of him! Thea collected the money lost due to wrong guesses, ignoring the grumblings of the losers and paid out the winning bets double, much to the glee of the man and his cronies. Loki took his supposed prize with a nonchalant expression, ignoring the sharp glare Thea gave him to 'act more his part' and the moron nudged him in the side once more.

"We're counting on you, buddy." The idiot whispered happily to the trickster and all Loki could do was force a nasty assuring smile onto his face. After all, he was sure that Thea would chase him out of her home, ring or no ring, if she knew that he screwed up this con on purpose.

For the rest of the game, the man and his group of stooges dutifully followed Loki's lead, placing bets on whichever card the god chose to pick and roaring with joy when all of their bets turned out to be correct. It did not take geniuses to realise that this strange green eyed man was on an amazingly lucky streak and before long, a large group of people had started to follow the god's every move, placing large bets on the card Loki had betted on.

After what seemed to be the tenth or eleventh time the crowd burst out in a cheer, it was the God of Mischief's turn to shoot an irritated glare in Thea's direction and urge the insufferable woman to finish off these idiots once and for all. Loki had only that much patience and right now, he was strongly tempted to walk off and leave this bunch of noisy bumbling morons behind. Thea's brows lifted slightly as a sign that she understood Loki's message and during the next round, Loki saw a brief exchange of cards under the female swindler's sleeve, a flash of the moment that would be too fast for a normal untrained human eye to catch.

"And now, let's unveil the cards!" Thea declared and flipped the three cards over once more. The annoying man and his group of stooges shouted their usual cry of triumph and were about to reach out for their prize when all of them realised with a jolt that this time, they had lost. The card their 'lucky lead' had chosen wasn't the queen this time. A series of shocked murmurs passed around the crowd as the people eyed the jack they have betted most of their money on in disbelief. The queen, the correct card, was sitting gleefully on its right, the normally mild smile on its face now seemingly mocking and cruel.

"NO! But…but it can't be! That card should be the queen!" The stout man cried out incredulously, pointing to the jack in the middle. His eyes then turned to Thea furiously. "You must have cheated!"

It was all Loki could do not to snigger with amusement at the idiot's infuriation. Thea's lips curled up in a nasty smirk as she stared back at the man defiantly, not in the least fazed by his accusations.

"Uh huh, no it should NOT be the queen! Are you blind? This is the queen!" The woman retorted sarcastically as she gestured towards the card on the right. "And what makes you so certain that the middle card should be the queen anyway? The odds that each of the three may be the queen are equal!" Thea paused for a moment, staring at the enraged man in mock puzzlement before faking a knowing gasp that amused Loki greatly. "Don't tell me you cheated? No wonder! It explains your unnatural winning streak previously!" Thea exclaimed matter-of-factly and the man hastily denied this fact.

The god watched with disinterest as the woman and the man started a furious argument over their innocence and members of the crowd dispatched, convinced that the show was over and shaking their heads sorrowfully at their lost money. Soon, only Thea, Loki and the disgruntled man as well as his little gang of friends were left and the trickster observed with bemusement as Thea waved off the angry men nonchalantly, dismissing their requests to get their money back.

_So it's all over now? Now that was boring…_

As the female swindler packed up her things and gathered up the money, Loki felt the heated glares of the men he had tricked focused on him. The god couldn't help but give a tiny smirk at this situation when he recalled how Thea had told him that they will have to split up after the con and meet at a separate place later. It seems as though the mortal had it all thought out perfectly. The god supposed he ought to give her a bit more credit when it comes to intelligence. The human might be smarter than she actually seems.

_So the woman plans to leave me here to face the wrath of these fools? Well, two can play at this game. _

Loki stifled a chuckle as he muttered some magic words quietly under his breath. In a matter of seconds, a strong gust of wind blew past, catching Thea and the group of man by surprise and tugging vigorously at the notes on the table. In her panic to keep the precious bills from fluttering away in the wind, Thea hurriedly shot her hands out to cover the money and in a most unfortunate twist of events, causing a few spare cards to drop out from her sleeves. The wind was gone as quickly as it came and Loki gave a tiny amused snigger. A stunned silence ensued for a moment as Thea stared at the fallen cards in horror, the men gaped at the discriminating evidence in shock and Loki smirked with delight at the wonderful knot he had gotten his irritating host into.

"YOU CHEATED!" The burly man snarled in anger after a while and Thea flashed a sheepish grin as the enraged group of men advanced on her menacingly.

"Come now! These are just some spare cards I keep just in case I lose one. Heh!" Thea lied weakly and Loki snickered evilly, wondering how his human hostess could possibly squirm her way out of this one. After all, the men seemed hell bent on tearing her apart. "Hey guys! Chill! Why don't we split the loot 50-50?" Thea said hastily and the men paused for a moment, obviously considering her words. Loki gave a tiny frown at this.

_Surely the humans would not be tempted by such a weak offer? _

The female swindler gave a tiny grin and started to make a show of splitting the stack of money in half as the men watched.

"See, this half will be mine," Thea casually gathered up one of the two piles of cash she had made while the men glared at her suspiciously. "And this half…" The woman lightly gestured towards the other pile of money and Loki's brows rose sceptically.

_This woman is up to something._

Before the cynical group of men could mutter anything or wait for her to finish her sentence, the sly female quickly swiped the whole bunch of notes and coins into a pocket in her jacket and in one swift fluid movement, flipped the table over and sent it crashing straight into the snarling raging men.

"Come on! Run! What are you waiting for dumbass?" Thea hissed impatiently as she snatched at Loki's hand, sprinting down the streets and dragging the amused god along with the group of furious, cheated hooligans in hot pursuit. After dashing through some streets and knocking over several annoyed people, the flustered Thea forcibly pulled Loki into dark and isolated little alley, heaving a sigh of relief as they heard the men charging past the lane they were in, screaming vulgarities and oblivious to the fact that their targets were hiding in the godforsaken alley by the side of the main street.

"God! We finally got rid of them!" Thea muttered wearily as she leant back sluggishly against the wall of the alley. Loki, who was standing beside her, observed as his hostess gave a low groan, her chest heaving with tired pants and obviously exhausted by the vigorous chase. The god was just musing to himself about how weak a human's stamina is when Thea finally straightened up and ruffled her hair in frustration. It was then that the trickster realised to his bemusement that the woman was still clutching onto his hand tightly.

"Damn it! Where did that stupid gust of wind come from?" Thea exclaimed in anger and Loki stared at her with a slight frown on his face, waiting for the mortal to be aware of her folly of clinging onto his hand and release her grip herself. However, it seems as though the female remained blissfully unknowing as she continued her rant. "Mother Nature had just conveniently put us out of business for a few days! How can we carry out any gigs now if that group of assholes are prowling about the city and looking for us?" Thea gave an annoyed huff. "Oh well! I guess we've gotten enough loot to last us for a few days!" The female swindler gave a little shrug and turned to leave when she realised Loki wasn't budging an inch from his spot.

"Are you ever going to release your hand, woman?" Loki asked coldly.

Thea stared at the man in puzzlement for a moment before her eyes shifted down to her right hand, which was still linked to Loki's in a snug grip. The woman hastily let go of the god's hand and a slight tinge of red flitted across her cheeks.

"Jesus! Why didn't you tell me about that earlier?" Thea snapped at her guest furiously to cover up her embarrassment while Loki stared at her incredulously. "If I didn't know better, I would have said that you planned this!" The god gave a sputter of indignation at her words.

"Excuse me? I planned this?" Loki repeated in disbelief. "Who was the one who grabbed my hand unceremoniously and dragged me along the streets, woman?" Thea's face flushed after hearing the trickster's accusations but the defiant female gave a scornful huff.

"Well, so what if I did? Under those circumstances, would you rather have me leaving you there, standing and gaping like some idiot?" The woman retorted tartly and Loki shot her an affronted glare. "Stop being so uptight about a little body contact! Man! You are such a sissy!" Thea said disdainfully and turned to leave before Loki could get over his astonishment of how the mortal had so shamelessly turned the tables on him and snarl at her for using such offensive word on his pride.

"Come on, slow poke!" Thea shouted irritably to Loki after seeing that the god wasn't about to follow her out of this place. "We have to get out of here before the thugs and the Po Po get us!" Loki was about to hurl a scathing remark at her when he paused for a moment and furrowed his brows in confusion over what Thea had said.

"What did you just say?" Loki asked in bewilderment, staring at the woman incredulously.

Thea gave a hiss of exasperation at the god's puzzlement and walked back to Loki, glaring at him impatiently.

"Which part of 'get out of here' do you not understand?" The woman snapped in annoyance and the god shot her a dirty look.

"What in the world does Po Po mean, woman?" Loki asked scornfully. It appears that he would have to state everything explicitly in order to communicate with this intolerable mortal. Thea gave him a disgusted look for a moment which suggested that he was a retard and laughed disdainfully.

"Police. Po Po means police." The female replied simply and gave a condescending sneer. "God! Are you an idiot or something? How could you not know what Po Po means? You are such a lop!" Loki snarled in anger as he shot the haughty mortal a murderous glare.

"What did you just call me?" The god demanded testily as his eyes flashed in a dangerous manner that Thea brazenly chose to ignore.

"A lop. Retard. Idiot." Thea answered scathingly and turned, walking out of the dark alley and leaving Loki to boil in his own rage. "Come on! Let's go! I don't want to stay in this cramped little space forever, you know!" The woman shouted out impatiently behind her to the god.

Loki gritted his teeth with fury as he glared at the leaving back of the woman.

_The insufferable, frustrating wench!_

The trickster's fingers twitched as he considered ending the mortal there and then for treating him with such utter disrespect. After all, he had no obligations to continue tolerating her mockery and nonsense. In fact, he could easily crush her like an insect between his fingers. However, the oblivious Thea turned around the corner before Loki could do anything and the god gave a bitter laugh.

_She should count herself lucky._

The trickster's rage subsided and simmered down to mere irritation and displeasure at the mortal's cheek. Loki considered for a moment before giving an evil grin to himself. No, it would be a waste for the god not to make full use of the guide who had presented herself to him with such a wonderful vulnerability in his hand. There are many ways to get his revenge on the annoying woman in the days to come. Loki smirked wickedly at the thought.

After all, being the guide for the God of Mischief will not be an easy task.

_To be continued…_

* * *

_I didn't update earlier because my past few days were crammed with events… sorry about that! :P _

_Yep but thanks for reading and reviewing so far. And as an answer to Leigh Tate and any others who have questions about Derek's existence, well, his absence in Leif's life will be explained in later chapters :)_


	6. Of Shopping Trips and Popcorn

**Of Shopping Trips and Popcorn**

* * *

It was almost night time when Thea and Loki finally returned back to the female swindler's home.

During the afternoon, after they had left the dark little alley and started making their way back, cautious to avoid any furious, hot-headed pursuers, Thea had suddenly remembered about the need to acquire some new clothes for her penniless guest. After all, something tells her that it will not be easy to perform cons in the future if the person tagging along with her is dressed like he is about to attend some opera of sorts. The suit was too attention-drawing. Too _elaborate. _The jerk stood out like a sore thumb in that get-up and despite the idiocy of the police in their area, the woman suspected that reports of a man dressed like some fancy bird and strutting around swindling people would not be ignored. As much as Thea didn't mind letting the police apprehend the asshole if anything goes horribly wrong (_it would be terribly funny_), she had a feeling that she _might not_ be able to get her ring back if that happens. Besides, knowing the guy, he would probably drag her down along with him somehow.

Therefore, instead of heading back to home base as she would have much preferred, Thea took it upon herself to force an unenthusiastic Loki to go shopping. And of course, as everyone knows, shopping trips are _never_ enjoyable if reluctant males are dragged along, regardless of whether they are mortal or god.

Due to their tight budget, or rather, the tiny budget Thea was willing to spend on her irritating guest, their first stop had been a second-hand clothing store. As expected, this had not ended well. After turning his nose up at every single piece of clothing Thea presented to him, Loki had curiously (and disdainfully) asked his hostess the reason behind the worn-out quality of these clothes. What followed after he learnt that these were 'used attire' had been a burst of outrage so colossal, it was freaky beyond belief. Basically a huge hissy fit to put all hissy fits to shame. It took Thea a few minutes to recover from her shock after the snotty bastard screeched at her for attempting to 'clothe him with degrading rags' and apologise profusely to the appalled store owner for scaring off several of her customers with her companion's nutty behaviour. The embarrassed female then fled out of the shop, red-faced and furiously chasing after the potty jerk who had marched out of the place with his chin held up in a dignified manner, heading towards a nearby mall which he had deemed more appropriate.

Needless to say, the duo soon found out that their opinions and views on how Loki should be clothed differed greatly. After hours of heated squabbles where Thea forcibly wrestled Armani ties away from Loki, chased the frustrated god out of Burberry and Gucci boutiques and failed miserably in her attempts to coax the disgusted man into cheap Wal-Mart shirts, they finally came to a grudging consensus that the clothes bought should be non-tacky _yet _economical. Both of them then headed towards an agreeable looking department store to further embark in their _separate_ endeavours.

"No. I refuse to wear that… whatever that is supposed to be." Loki said flatly, eyeing the huge pair of jeans that Thea held out to him with distaste. His human hostess had been more than just annoying. She had been Thorishly annoying. Throughout the entire shopping trip, she had rained him with endless suggestions on the type of Midgardian attire he should wear, none of which had even met the god's basest expectations. And now, she was trying to get him sold on this pair of 'baggy jeans'? Or at least, that was what _she _called it.

_What in the name of Odin is this woman thinking? Good grief! Has she no taste? Two Thors could easily fit into that!_

Thea flashed him an annoyed scowl.

"Damn! You have absolutely no fashion sense!" The woman replied irritably as Loki choked with indignation at the irony of her sentence. "This is the latest fad! Everyone is wearing it!" Thea exclaimed matter-of-factly, giving the jeans she was holding a little shake to get her point across while Loki rolled his eyes with scorn.

"Well I certainly am not _everyone_, woman. And I certainly do not appreciate wearing these revolting pants that will slip off at any possible moment!" The god retorted tartly as his hostess shot him an annoyed glare. Before either of them could argue any further, their attentions were drawn towards a teenaged boy shuffling past them, donning a pair of jeans about 4 sizes too big and exposing part of his boxers underneath. Loki made some intangible gagging sound before turning back to face an equally disturbed Thea with a disgusted look on his face.

"Latest fad?" The trickster repeated scathingly and the swindler grimaced slightly. A bright blush of red appeared on the woman's face as she hastily placed the large pair of jeans back to its original hanger.

"It _is_ the latest fashion!" Thea stubbornly insisted in her own defence. "But since I don't want to lose my appetite by seeing half of your naked ass all of the time, I'll withdraw my earlier suggestion."

"Excuse me?" Loki gaped in disbelief at the smirking woman. Did he just hear what she had said correctly? How could one be so shameless? So crude? So- Heck! Even the god was at a loss of how to describe this insufferable mortal.

"Well! Hurry up with choosing your dress, Princess! I don't have all day to spend shopping with you, you know!" Thea sneered nastily, much to Loki's fury. The woman then strode off haughtily to look at several male polo shirts while the trickster ground his teeth in frustration.

Loki had absolutely no idea why he continued to allow the mortal to cheek him like this. Under normal circumstances, anyone who had dared to snub the God of Mischief would have found themselves horrendously torn into tiny bits and pieces already. Even _close_ family members like Thor would have faced some sort of wrathful retribution from the spiteful god. However, it may have been because Loki's mood had miraculously improved since he was supposed to be on a vacation in Midgard. Or maybe it is due to the fact that his greatest pet peeve Thor was not around to irk him. Perhaps it was also fortunate for Thea that the god did need her as a guide. Although there was an endless possibility of explanations for Loki's abnormal behaviour, what can be certain is that the woman's end was not near, well, at least not yet.

Not until Loki got bored of New York, that is…

At the end of the day, Loki settled for several V-necked shirts of varying shades of green as well as a few pairs of black straight-cut jeans. Thea intervened mid-purchase and threw in three polo shirts of white, grey and sky-blue, insisting on mixing her guest's monotonous wardrobe with a bit more colour. Loki reluctantly accepted this little addition to his ensemble, although he did flatly reject the bright scarlet shirt that the female liked, refusing to wear a colour that reminded him so much of his brother's cape. In addition to these 'street clothes', Loki also acquired a few sets of pyjamas, ensuring that _none _of them had a picture of some muscular man wearing the country's flag, a so-called legendary figure called 'Captain America' that her hostess claimed her little brother revered. In the god's eyes, it was utterly corny. And the man's tights looked, well, stupid.

After making his purchases, Loki had turned to order his hostess to lead the way back to her residence when he realised that the human was nowhere to be seen. The god gave a tiny frown. Had the mortal actually dared to sneak off and leave him alone in this noisy, crowded place? A hint of annoyance, not worry, bit at his heart and Loki gave a frustrated huff, scanning his surroundings briskly for any signs of Thea. The trickster was just slowly running through some thoughts of how to torture the human for abandoning him when he suddenly spotted said human waving cheerily from a distance and bounding towards him through the crowd with a paper bag in her hand.

"Here, I got you a little something!" Thea grinned when she reached Loki, tossing the paper bag into the man's hands. Loki caught the item and merely stared at it with a frown before turning to look at his smiling hostess sceptically.

"What is it?" The trickster asked cynically. He was not exactly enthusiastic about opening the dubious package, at least, not without confronting the person who shoved it to him first. For all he knew, Thea could have just passed him a bomb, a venomous lindworm, or even that revolting rainbow coloured shirt with the words 'We Love Peace' that Loki had scoffed at earlier.

"It's a gift." Thea shrugged casually. "You know, to get rid of any ill-feelings we have from our first encounter? We will be living together for a while, after all." The female then flashed the god a smile so sweet that Loki had no doubts it was fake. The trickster cast his hostess one last suspicious glance before reaching in to the paper bag to pull out whatever atrocity that Thea may have considered to be a 'gift'.

_This had better not be that gaudy shirt…_

And, it was thankfully not the rainbow shirt. Loki's brows lifted with surprise as he gazed at the black leather jacket in his hand. It was simple, but sleek and not as garish or tacky as he had expected anything the mortal bought him to be. In fact, it was quite fitting to Loki's tastes. Thea observed the god's face with interest as he tried not to appear pleased (_or relieved_) by the present, only to fail when a tiny curl up of the sides of his lips betrayed him.

"So… do you like it?" Thea asked smugly, although she was already certain of the answer herself. Loki's gaze turned back to her and he tucked the jacket back into its bag, wearing a nonchalant expression on his face (_yeah yeah, go on pretending_, Thea thought).

"I suppose it is acceptable." The god drawled and Thea gave an exasperated snort.

"Saying 'Thank You' won't kill anyone, you know?" The woman pointed out sarcastically. Loki simply gave her a look that said 'Whatever!' and turned to leave the store.

"Lead the way out of this stuffy place, woman. I wish to return back to your residence and rest." Loki said pompously, ignoring the dirty look Thea shot at him for daring to speak to her in such an authoritative manner. The god then paused for a moment when he realised that his hostess was not about to make a move. "Well? Make haste, woman." Loki said irritably.

Thea rolled her eyes in disdain at the man's fancy language. _Seriously! _She strode off huffily, shoving a prissy Loki aside forcefully on purpose when she passed him, ignoring his indignant grunts and angry ramblings of being 'manhandled'.

_Well, it's womanhandled this time._ Thea gave a smirk at this thought. However, as she walked, the female could not help but feel pleased as she remembered Loki's signs of satisfaction with her gift. She may have disliked the crazy bastard, but Thea was not a foolish person. She knew that the faster she got on Loki's good side, the sooner her ring will be returned. And as much as she would have preferred kicking the jerk's ass than buying him jackets, the woman did not mind being nice, or _pretending_ to be nice to the guy if she would be able to regain possession of her ring. Ass-kicking can come later, and Thea was a good actress.

The woman grinned slyly to herself as she made her way down the streets with Loki trailing along behind her. Besides, street-swindling would be a lot more convenient for her now if the 'partner' she lugged along with had a jacket to hide cash in. Yes, Thea could just settle with having a walking money pouch, and a rather tall one at that.

Tall was good. It meant more space to store loot in.

XXX

Loki lazed on the tiny couch in Thea's living room, clad in a baby-green long-sleeved shirt and black jeans. He shifted about uncomfortably and tugged at the side of his jeans for a moment, frowning at the stiffness of the material. Even though this Midgardian wear was nowhere as irksome as his battle armour, the god still needed some time to get used to it.

It was after their evening meal, which had consisted of some round flat doughy food with toppings that Thea had ordered. The mortal had claimed that it was called pizza and despite its strange appearance, Loki found it rather appeasing. The god was partial towards a particular flavour of pizza topped with cheese, ham and pineapples (Hawaiian, as Thea said), finding it to be a satisfying new taste. And now, Loki was contented with his meal and relaxing on the couch… well, trying to relax.

Beside him, Derek Black gave a fervent shout and bounced on the couch happily. The irritated god inched a little further away from the exuberant boy, but to no avail due to the lack of space on the small couch. He gazed disdainfully at the fascination that had glazed over Derek's eyes and then turned to observe the squarish black box that was the source of the boy's interest. Colourful, moving images flashed on the screen of the box. Images of living, miniature people. Living, miniature people who were running and chasing a ball around a green field.

_How utterly exciting._

Loki stifled a bored yawn as he stared in bemusement at the mysterious motion box. Why on Asgard would a bunch of people, grown men at that, chase after one tiny spherical object? Were they so poor that none of them could afford a round toy of their own? The god watched sceptically as one of the men kicked the ball away from an opponent (Loki managed to figure out that the colour of their jerseys defined which side they were on) and for all the love of his life, could not understand what was so captivating about this display.

"WHOA! WICKED!" Derek hollered in glee all of a sudden, giving the air a triumphant punch when one of the men decked in all red performed some supposedly tricky manoeuvre with the ball, dodging some opponents in white. Loki gave an involuntary jolt due to shock at the sudden outburst and scowled. He was once again reminded unpleasantly of how the scruffy haired human beside him resembled Thor so much; both of them have an inclination to express themselves with dramatic, unnecessary gestures, being too inarticulate to do so in words. The one time Loki had been unfortunate enough to be near Thor when the Thunder God was overly-passionate about something, the trickster had ended up nursing a sore nose when one of his brother's excited swings went awry. Loki was not at all eager to repeat that experience.

Once the God of Mischief succeeded in placing just a tiny bit of space between himself and the excited boy, he turned back to the motion screen and gave a confused frown.

"I do not see what is so evil about this." Loki pointed out questioningly to Derek, who was obviously too engrossed in the show for his companion's words to sink in. The boy was wearing a bright red jersey similar to the ones worn by some of the men in the motion box and on it was a picture of some strange hybrid cross between a bird and a dragon. Loki had no idea what the creature was. It certainly did not resemble any of the dragons he had seen in Niflheim.

"Huh? What?" Derek asked absent-mindedly, his eyes still glued to the screen. The black-haired boy then reached out for some crumby yellow kernels in a large bowl on his lap and popped them into his mouth. "Whaf's evif?" Derek murmured, his mouth full with the round yellow snacks. Loki clicked his tongue in disgust with the boy's idiocy and shook his head.

_Seriously, this mortal's head is as dense as Thor's. If that's even possible._

Loki's attention then returned to the motion screen, watching with disinterest as one of the men in red dashed forward with the small white ball and with one swift kick, sent it flying into a net. The god hardly had time to comprehend the reason behind this strange move when an eruption of glee and frenzy exploded beside him. Derek jumped off the couch in joy, giving exhilarated whoops and swinging the large bowl of yellow kernels about elatedly, causing a great deal of the round Midgardian snack things to land on a bewildered and annoyed Loki. The God of Mischief gave an irritated hiss and started sweeping off the sticky kernels that have landed on his shirt in disgust.

"Do you mind?" Loki snapped in frustration but Derek seemed unable to hear him. The boy was still staring at the screen with a stupid grin on his face as the bunch of red-shirted men clambered together wildly over each other. The man who had kicked the ball soon disappeared under a mass of bodies and Loki idly wondered if they were trying to bury him alive. Then, Derek spun back to face Loki, his face shining with happiness.

"Did you see that? DID YOU SEE THAT? That was positively wicked! Man! That was damn cool!" The boy exclaimed in glee and Loki's brows furrowed in bewilderment once more.

_Hadn't the boy just said that there was nothing evil about this? Did he realise that he is contradicting himself now? _Loki gave a derisive snort. _Midgardians. _He rolled his eyes condescendingly. Furthermore, the god had no idea how this bizarre little display could be considered _cold_. After all, there was no snow, no ice and it sure did not seem anything like the plains of Jotunheim on the screen. Loki wisely decided against pointing out these facts to Derek. If the boy was anywhere as aggravating as his sister or as daft as Thor, the god would just be bringing woe unto himself.

Loki carelessly plucked off another yellow crumble from his shirt and nonchalantly attempted to flick it away, only to fail in the process. A tiny, puzzled frown appeared on the trickster's face as he observed the kernel glued to the tip of his finger. Such a strange, sticky little thing…

_I guess it could be expected that Midgardian snacks would be as annoying as their creators._

Loki gritted his teeth in irritation. The god tried once more and finally managed to flick the kernel onto the ground. However, before he could rejoice in his success at getting rid of the pesky thing, there was a sudden hard whack to the back of his head. Loki gave a loud, furious snarl at the blinding pain and spun around angrily to face an equally fuming Thea.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" Loki roared after he resisted his natural instinct to fire a curse at the mortal. Thea folded her arms defiantly as she gave Loki a withering glare.

"For dirtying the place, you asshole!" The woman retorted heatedly. "I told you last time that you have to maintain the cleanliness of the house, remember? Now pick up that rubbish!" Thea pointed at the fallen snacks accusingly and Loki stared at her incredulously.

"Your brother was the one who littered the disgusting things on me in the first place!" Loki snapped in anger, rising up from the couch menacingly. Derek stared wide-eyed with terror as his sister and _friend_ (the gullible boy tended to consider people who had eaten a few meals with him as friends) engage in a flared argument over some popcorn.

"I don't care who started this! I saw YOU throwing the popcorn on the ground, so YOU pick it up!" Thea snarled and Derek winced. His sister can be very scary when she is provoked. Beside him, Loki gave a low, blood-curdling growl. Okay, apparently this guy can be pretty scary too.

"You damned insufferable wench!" Loki bellowed furiously and the frightened boy took a few steps away from him. Thea bristled with rage at the insult and for a moment there, Derek thought that his sister was about to explode. The boy cleared his throat nervously, making an attempt to break the argument up before either of them came to blows.

"Whoa! Hey! Calm down! I…I will pick that up!" Derek interrupted anxiously, hoping that his words could calm the storm. It didn't seem to work though. Thea and Loki continued to lock death glares and a stony silence filled the room as neither of them spoke. After a few tense seconds, Derek gave an uncomfortable little cough and bent over, meaning to pick some of the littered popcorn up when Thea's stern voice stopped him.

"No, Derek. Let_ him_ pick it up." Thea ordered, still firmly maintaining eye contact with Loki, although her tone was not as fierce as it had been when she was arguing with the god. Derek watched with trepidation for a moment as Loki swelled up with indignation at his sister's words and the boy gave a wary laugh. His sister had _always _been a bit too fiery for her own good.

"Heh! It's alright Sis, I got this… Picking things from the ground is not hard, you know, after all the picking from pockets?" Derek gave a weak grin but his lame joke was completely ignored the angry duo. The boy's grin faltered.

_Oh come on! That was kind of funny!_

The boy hurriedly gathered up all the fallen popcorn, keeping his fingers crossed for a cease of crossfire. If this quarrel went on there was bound to be some sort of gruesome, grisly death, and he sure didn't want that to happen. Well, at least not on soccer night. Heck, in the few minutes of being distracted by the squabbling, he was sure that he had missed out on a lot of the action already! Derek's eyes flicked momentarily back to the television screen, hoping that nothing of much importance had happened on the field so far.

Thea shot Loki one last dirty look (_thank goodness_), and strode over to a worn-out armchair positioned next to the couch, plunking onto the plushy seat with a huff. Loki's murderous glare followed the woman until Derek straightened up and patted him on the shoulder with a silly, assuring grin. With an irritated hiss, the god shrugged off the boy's hand and loftily reclaimed his position on the couch, ignoring his aggravating hostess' little brother as he too, returned to his seat next to god. An awkward silence followed as all three of them turned their attentions back to the television screen, watching as the soccer players dribbled the ball down the field quietly. Even the normally talkative Derek dared not utter a word and for a moment, all that could be heard was the faint background cheering of the audience on the soccer field.

"Umm…" Derek fumbled over his words for a moment as he tried to think of something to lighten up the mood. Sheesh! This was soccer night, for god's sakes! "Errr… Soccer's great isn't it?" The boy turned eagerly to Loki beside him, hoping to strike up a conversation about his favourite sport. His sister had made it clear long ago that she was not a fan of soccer, and Derek had a lot of trouble trying to find a kindred soul to chat about the sport with.

_Perhaps this guy loves soccer too?_

Well, it appears not. Loki paused for a moment after hearing Derek's question and then turned to the boy with a confused look on his face. All Derek's hopes of finding a soccer soul mate were then slashed with a single delicate question that came from the god's mouth.

"What's soccer?" Loki's brows rose questioningly and Derek's jaw dropped in utter horror.

_How could he not know what soccer is? The poor, deprived fellow!_

Beside them, Thea gave a nasty, scornful laugh.

"Oh we don't know! Maybe it's what you are watching on television now, genius?" The female answered sarcastically and Loki gave another irked hiss. Sensing that hell was about to break loose again, Derek coughed nervously and held out his bowl of popcorn to Loki.

"Ummm…Popcorn?" The boy asked timidly and the god irritably glared down at the bowl of snacks before him.

"And _what_ is this?" Loki demanded testily and Derek's eyes grew wider in surprise. Thea made some annoyed noise as she turned to stare at her guest with a mixture of incredulity and disgust.

"Have you lived under a rock in Afghanistan all these years? How could you not know what soccer and popcorn is?" Thea asked scornfully and Loki seemed about to start snarling insults again.

"It's a snack!" Derek piped up hastily, not at all eager to see another fight break out. "It's really good! Try it!" The boy pushed the bowl of popcorn closer to Loki and the god gazed down at the crumbly, sticky, yellow snacks with distaste. No, he would rather listen to Thor's incessant garbling for a day than place something as dubious as this in his mouth. At least his brother's ramblings could be negated with a silencing spell; Loki shuddered at the thought of being poisoned and merciless at the hands of the mortals, especially one as aggravating as Thea.

"No. I refuse." Loki said flatly, returning his gaze to the motion-box and the hopeful smile on Derek's face faded. The boy stared at his 'friend' for a while before timidly poking the man at the side.

"Aww! Come on!"

"No."

"Just one bite won't hurt."

"No."

"One tiny bite?"

"Which part of 'No' do you not understand?" Loki snapped and turned back to face Derek, however his anger subsided a little at the sight of the boy's large puppy dog eyes.

_Oh Odin… He is giving me the Thor look…_

Loki knew _that_ look too well. His brother used it all the time whenever the trickster was crabby and refused to comply with the Thunderer's requests. It was supposed to be the killing blow; the key to gaining Loki's cooperation whenever nagging or pestering failed to work. For some strange reason, Loki always had trouble refusing his brother when Thor seemed upset. It was his soft spot, and Thor knew and took advantage of this at every possible opportunity. The trickster could never bear disappointing his child-like brother.

"Oh for…" Loki gave a weary sigh. Against his better senses, the trickster reached out and took one tiny kernel of popcorn from the bowl, staring at it suspiciously. Derek flashed him an eager, encouraging smile and made a tiny gesture to urge the god to try it.

_I guess just trying one of these won't kill me, would it?_

Loki's brows furrowed and he reluctantly popped the snack into his mouth, bracing himself for any reaction that may occur. However, all the fire, acid, poison or whatever pain the god had expected did not happen. Instead, a wonderfully sweet sensation melted into the trickster's tongue, causing his eyes to widen in surprise. Loki swallowed hesitantly and found himself longing more for the lovely, sugary goodness.

"What is this?" Loki asked curiously once more as he gazed more carefully at the bowl of yellow delicacies. Derek gave an amused laugh.

"Popcorn!" The boy answered jovially. "It's made of corn, caramel and butter. Especially a lot of butter! Makes it taste all so better, you kn-? Hey! That's mine!" Derek protested mid-explanation as Loki wrenched the bowl of popcorn away from him and started placing more of the snack into his mouth gleefully, enjoying the wonderful sugary taste it provided. The honeyed-tongued trickster always had a sweet tooth, and all earlier ill-will and hostilities caused by his human hostess was now forgotten by the god as he pampered himself with the glorious Midgardian snack. A contented grin flitted across Loki's face once more as he turned back to what Thea had called the 'television'.

_So this silly Midgardian sport is called soccer?_

"Tell me more about soccer." Loki said casually to Derek in an attempt to stop the boy from snatching the precious bowl of popcorn back. The god gave a snigger as the naïve boy's face lit up at the mention of his favourite sport and in a matter of seconds, Derek was earnestly explaining all there is to know about soccer to the trickster, conveniently forgetting about retrieving his snack.

_Looks like the boy is as easy to distract as Thor…_

Beside them, Thea rolled her eyes at her brother's craze and yawned tiredly. It had been a long day for her, with all the thrills and action of escaping from hooligans and shopping for the fussy prat. The female swindler closed her eyes and dozed off, soon oblivious to Derek's ramblings about the various major soccer leagues in the world.

"And then there's Man U… and Chelsea, and Barcelona!" Derek excitedly listed all the soccer teams he could remember, ticking them off one by one with his fingers. "Oh! Oh! And then there's Liverpool!" The boy proudly showed his jersey to Loki, who simply replied with a bored 'hmmm' and looked away, returning his attention to the delicious popped corn. At that moment, Derek suddenly realised that the god was slowly depleting his snack stash.

"Hey! You are finishing up all the popcorn! No fair!"

Loki gave an indignant hiss as Derek wrestled the large bowl away from him and held it at a protective distance away from the god. He held his hand out demandingly and glared at the pouting boy.

"Return the snack, boy." Loki growled commandingly but Derek merely shook his head defiantly.

"Nope! This bowl is mine! Go get some more if you want any!" The boy replied haughtily, giving the god an irksome impression of his sister. Loki gritted his teeth with annoyance and turned to Thea, meaning to order the human to go and get him some of the snack when he realised that she was already fast asleep.

For a moment, the trickster was entranced by the tranquillity that shone on the female's face. He continued to stare at her for a few seconds, noting with wonderment at how peaceful and serene the woman looked. Somehow, all the tiresome, aggravating air about her in the day had vanished. It was as though someone had peeled away a loathsome mask to reveal something pure and innocent. But weary. Loki observed the thin lines that marred the woman's face, signs of stress that have ruined her otherwise perfect demeanour. For some strange reason, all this forcibly reminded the god of someone else. Someone dear and precious to him. Somehow, all this reminded Loki of Frigga.

In the past, when Loki and Thor were still children, there had always been some sort of a ritual. Whenever they got into trouble, received scoldings from Father or had nightmares, the two brothers would always run off to seek the loving embrace of Mother. Frigga would coo over them, assure them that everything was fine. She would coax them to sleep, warming them with her hugs and allowing herself to rest only when she is certain that both her sons had drifted off into peaceful dreams. However, there were many times when Loki had tricked his mother, pretending to sleep when he was actually still awake, unlike his slumbering, snoring brother. The tiny trickster would slyly lift an eyelid and peep at Frigga coyly, observing the tired lines and wrinkles that tainted his sleeping mother's face, all of which were results of her constant worrying about her husband and sons. Loki found them to be sad, painful, and yet, strangely beautiful. The child would then snuggle up closer to Frigga, longing to feel more of her warmth and touch before eventually dozing off himself, lost in the assurance of his mother's love.

"Whoo boy!"

Loki jolted back from the memory when Derek gave an exhilarated cry beside him and shot his fist up in the air with exuberance once more. The trickster shook his head in disbelief at his earlier thoughts and stared at Thea again, this time with his gaze hardened.

_How could you compare her to Mother? _The god chided himself angrily._ How could you compare a mortal, and such an aggravating one at that, to Mother?_

Loki silently cursed himself under his breath and turned back to glare at the television screen. The god's attention, however, was not focused on the miniature people running about like chickens on the field any longer. Instead, his mind continuously drifted back off to home, to Asgard. The trickster found a sudden sharp ache in his heart for Mother, for Father and much to his annoyance and resentment, for Thor. His irritating, annoying and yet, loving brother. What irked Loki the most was that he had gotten homesick after being away from them for barely three days! The God of Mischief rubbed his temples irritably.

_Snap out of it! You are supposed to be on a vacation!_

Loki gave a tiny huff and turned back to Derek, meaning to command the boy to share the glorious popped corn with him. After all, the god was sure that Thea would not be in the mood to bring him food if he woke her up in the middle of her slumber. He would be lucky if the crazy wench didn't attack him with claws and hisses. However, before Loki could open his mouth, he froze in shock at the sight of the empty bowl in the boy's hands. There was not even a pea-sized crumb left.

"You… you finished all of the popped corn?" Loki asked incredulously as he stared in disbelief at Derek. However, the boy was too absorbed in the soccer game to notice the god's current emotional trauma.

"Mmmph… Wad?" The boy mumbled absent-mindedly as he stared at the television screen, his mouth too stuffed to give a coherent answer. Loki gave a disgusted snort and grumpily turned back to face the television, crossing his arms with a sulk.

_It seems as though I have been right about Derek Black being similar to Thor,_ Loki scowled angrily to himself. _Even the amazing extent of their gluttony is the same!_

_To be continued…_

* * *

_I am so, so, so sorry about the late update! I hope this longer chapter makes up for it! *smiles sheepishly* I have been distracted, mainly by some other ideas I have for other fanfics and mostly, by the sequel. Heh… yeah I am halfway through the first chapter now… and I believe it's not long before I post it up. I know I said that I would start on the sequel to SOL after this prequel… but sometimes inspiration hits and all that, you know? :P_

_And in this chapter, I made Loki fall in love with popcorn. Yeah, weird but, since Thor has an obsession with Poptarts then maybe it's reasonable for Loki to love popcorn? ;D_


	7. Annoyance

**Annoyance**

* * *

"This is the Statue of Liberty. It is the icon of freedom of our great country, the US of A." Thea droned in a bored voice as both she and Loki stood before the towering statue.

As their cons had just been exposed the day before and they had already acquired sufficient funds to last them for a week, Thea had decided that it would be safer to keep a low profile for a few days. Therefore, instead of dragging Loki about the streets of New York on gigs, the female swindler had decided to fulfil her role as a tour guide and drag the god about on a tour of the city instead. After visiting places of interests all morning, Thea's temper was starting to run on a short fuse. It did not help matters when her guest was an extremely curious one, and seemed to revel in asking questions about every friggin little detail. After all, the Brooklyn Bridge is just a bridge in Brooklyn. It connects Brooklyn to Manhattan! Who cares about when it was built, or who designed it, or how many people worked to build it, or even what type of brick, stone or crap it was built from? Thea has no doubts that Loki's overabundance of curiosity was simply a play on the bastard's part solely for the purpose of aggravating her.

"How does a statue of a woman holding a torch and wearing a crown of spikes symbolise freedom?" Loki gave a tiny frown as he gazed at the statue and Thea resisted the urge to smack him in the face.

_Here we go again…_

"The female figure is some Roman goddess of freedom, I can't remember her name." Thea mumbled irritably.

"Libertas?" Loki's brows shot up sceptically as he observed the statue more carefully. "I must say that you huma- people did a terrible job of portraying her. From what I recall, she is certainly a lot more radiant than this. I would not have recognised her had you not told me who the statue was supposed to be." The god said thoughtfully. Thea rolled her eyes cynically.

_Oh, so the nutcase knows Roman goddesses now? Soon he will be claiming that he is the real Norse God of Mischief!_

"Yeah, well, what do you expect? She is crafted out of stone after all, and all that exposure to the sun must have been terrible for her complexion." Thea replied sarcastically and Loki glared at his hostess, not missing the mockery in her voice. Thea ignored him, too irritated and annoyed to even start an argument with the man. This job of being a tour guide had been a lot more aggravating than the woman had expected it to be, and she had no idea how much more of this nonsense she could take.

Somehow, the idea of murdering Loki in his sleep at night and stealing back her ring seemed like an extremely tempting choice right now…

XXX

Loki's glare turned into a smirk as he observed the look of frustration on Thea's face.

_Seriously, these mortals should learn to hone their tempers, _Loki mused to himself. The god must say that the day had been a rather fruitful one so far. Travelling around New York City had been a lot easier and more convenient with a guide, and Loki had learnt quite a bit about the history of the city's landmarks so far. Furthermore, he had enjoyed seeing the irritation of his hostess as he rained question after question on her for the entire trip. Yes, it was rather _fun._

Loki turned his attention back to the Statue of Liberty and gazed at the magnificent sculpture.

_Hope, she is supposed to give hope. _Loki thought to himself. _Freedom…_ And the god gave a tiny smile at the irony of it all. Here the people are, bound by society's fixed norms and set of values, plagued by murders and lies, forced by needs to lead dry, mundane lives, and yet they talk about freedom?

"Do you people really believe in that? Do you really believe you have freedom?" Loki murmured, more as a cynical little joke to himself, but Thea heard it anyway. There was a moment's silence as both god and mortal stared at the statue, and Loki waited for the expected explosive response from his already peeved guide. However, when Thea finally spoke up, the reply was contrary to what Loki had ever expected her to say.

"Only people who are blessed can believe in whatever they want to believe in." Thea mumbled, and Loki could not help but notice the tinge of bitterness in her voice. He turned and stared at the woman in surprise, but Thea seemed to be too deep in thought, too distracted by the statue to catch his puzzlement. Before Loki could probe in further about what she meant, a low rumble of thunder overhead interrupted him and the god instinctively gritted his teeth at the sound.

Thea promptly jolted out of her trance and shot a glance up, surprised by the sudden sound of thunder in what was supposed to be clear sunny weather.

"Wow! Where did _that_ come from?" Thea frowned as she scrutinised the sky for any signs of cloud or rain. None was found, and even after that, another (this time louder) rumble of thunder sounded once more.

_What is that show off up to now?_

Loki gave a tiny hiss of annoyance as he glared up at the direction of where Asgard was; where Thor would be, undoubtedly causing trouble, as he did on a regular basis. Thor is probably wrestling with Bilgesnipes right now. Or he might be showing off with the Mjolnir again, summoning lightning and thunder to prove his strength while the idiots Fandral and Volstagg cheered him on. Loki wouldn't even be surprised if his brother had just torn down half of the castle.

_That big oaf..._

But what if… what if Thor did get into serious trouble this time, and this time… just this time, Loki was not there to help him? The God of Mischief felt a sudden nagging feeling in his heart and frowned. This is ridiculous, even when Loki is on a vacation, Thor still had a way to barge into his mind!

"What? Are you actually scared of a little thunder?"

Loki's thoughts were interrupted by a sudden voice of incredulity and he turned to see Thea staring at him with a look of disbelief and amusement on her face. It did not take Loki long to realise that the idiotic human had mistaken his grimace and worry for a look of fear. _Fear._

_She thinks I am scared of Thor's thunder?!_

"Ha! You are scared of thunder!" Thea burst out in laughter before Loki could correct her on her seriously flawed misconception, leaving the god to seethe with indignation and rage.

"I do not _fear_ thunder," Loki growled furiously as he shot the woman a murderous glare and Thea had the decency to control her laughter for a moment and gaze at the red-faced man as she wiped tears of mirth from her eyes. "I am merely not fond of it." The god continued coldly and the woman flashed a condescending smirk at him.

"_Merely not fond of it._" Thea mimicked Loki annoyingly and grinned as the man gave a hiss of anger. "Oh come on, don't try to kid me. I am not stupid." Thea retorted.

"_That_ is a debatable topic." Loki snapped sourly but Thea simply smirked and allowed the insult to slide, gleeful that she had actually found such a wonderful way to make fun of her irritating guest.

"It's alright. Everyone has their own little phobias, no matter how funny they are." Thea gave another snicker at the furious expression on Loki's face and the trickster resisted the urge to strangle the woman. "Let's go, it might rain soon, and your black face isn't helping either." Thea smirked and strode off smugly, elated with her 'win'. Loki gave a hiss of indignation.

_That mortal actually believed that I am scared of thunder! Thor's thunder!_

The god glared angrily at the sky.

_This is all Thor's fault!_

_To be continued…_

* * *

_Hi everyone! This is actually only half of what I initially planned to write… and I had written this for some time now but couldn't find the time to continue because of all my recent commitments. :/ A lot of you have been asking me to update, so I decided to post this first. Don't worry, everyone, even if I take a long time to post, I don't plan on giving up on either of my stories. I apologise in advance for all future late updates, but one of my commitments will be ending by end October, so updates might speed up by then. _


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